How to Be an Organ Donor

Thirteen people die each day while waiting for an organ. If everyone became an organ donor, there would be enough organs for every person who needed one. It's free, it's easy and it's the last greatest gift you'll ever give.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Organ Donor Form

1. Get the facts about organ donation. 4,800 people died last year waiting for an organ. Organ donation is painless and won't cost your family a penny.
2. Make sure your family understands that you want to donate your organs. If and when the time comes for your family to face these issues, you'll be unable to communicate your wishes to them, so it's important for them to know beforehand.
3. Call The Living Bank at [phone]. They serve as an organ donation education center and a national organ registry.
4. Request an organ donor form, and fill it out when it arrives.
5. Ask two witnesses to sign your donor form. The witnessed signatures make the donor form a legal and binding document.
6. Keep in mind, in many states you can sign up to be an organ donor when you renew your driver's license. However, a donor card is often more effective in making sure hospital personnel know your wishes.
7. Understand that if you fill out an organ donor form, you can always revoke it at a later date. Be sure to inform your family, too, if you change your mind.

Tips & Warnings

• Signing a donor card or driver's license will not in any way affect the medical treatment you receive. Donation is considered only after three or four separate EEGs have declared you brain dead.
• The Living Bank has volunteers who will provide a free organ donor presentation in your community.
• If you have a donor card but your family refuses to allow your organs to be donated, the hospital will follow the wishes of your family'even though your donor card is a legal document. So make sure your family understands what you want.